Looking for Buys in Real-Estate Stocks

By

Joe Light

March 8, 2013 6:54 p.m. ET

Real estate, which led stocks into the ravine, is helping to lead them out of it.

Investors who bought the Vanguard REIT Index exchange-traded fund, which owns stocks that hold commercial properties, have seen their money rise about 19% annually over the last three years. Had they instead bought the SPDR S&P 500 Trust, it would have risen 13%...